The Spotlight Highlighting People, Programs, and Services

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1 The Highlighting People, Programs, and Services October '18 issue A Message from our Executive Director, Beth Stokes Episcopal Community Services continues to expand our knowledge on how to best engage in promising practices to meet the complex needs of those living in supportive housing; we seek to not only achieve housing stability, but to explore household opportunity and household advancement for many of our residents. In September, thanks to a generous gift from Keith and Priscilla Geeslin, ECS Workforce Development and Supportive Housing staff and I participated in a Peer to Peer visit with Central City Concern in Portland, OR. As we focus on Pathways to Employment Opportunities for those living in Supportive Housing, we want to continue to learn from our peers who are making advancements in the field. Through peer visits, such as this, ECS will continue to advance our programmatic capacity related to the core concept of aligning economic opportunity and affordable housing. We re grateful for the support from our generous donors, and to our colleagues at Central City Concern and leaders in the field at Corporation for Supportive Housing who all give us the knowledge, flexibility and opportunity to create initiatives such as this. We look forward to similar opportunities in the near future. Thanks in advance, Executive Director

2 Proposition C ECS has officially endorsed Proposition C, also known as Our City, Our Home." On September 11, Prop C Campaign manager, Sam Lew, came to the Canon Kip Senior Center to educate our seniors on the proposition. Prop C creates the Our City Our Home Fund which will allow San Francisco to make real progress evidenced by a marked reduction of suffering on our streets, resulting in increased safety and quality of life for all San Franciscans. This funding is vital for ECS and our partners to continue to provide needed homes and services for individuals with lived experience of homelessness. The seniors at Canon Kip also enthusiastically endorsed Prop C. Ballot On September 22, ECS seniors at the Canon Kip Senior Center also hosted a Prop C Phone Bank in both Tagalog & Cantonese. Canon Kip Senior Center Seniors

3 Oscar Nominated Documentary, Knife Skills, to be screened ECS will be hosting a limited screening of the Oscar nominated documentary, Knife Skills, about Edwins leadership & Restaurant Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. Edwins works with the reentry population in Cleveland, teaching culinary skills and leadership. The screening will take place on Friday, November 2nd, at 2pm at the Canon Kip Senior Center (705 Natoma). This screening is open to all current and former CHEFS students, ECS staff, donors, board members, community and agency partners. There will be light refreshments and group discussion following the movie. To attend, please RSVP with Melanie Brew at ecs-sf.org. Seating is very limited. On September 17th, 18 Reasons, a community cooking school, held a screening of the film. ECS CHEFS Program Assistant Manager, Melanie Brew and CHEFS program students Christopher Hall and Gordon Rowe appeared on a panel following the screening to talk about the merits of the ECS CHEFS program. Melanie Brew, Emma Rosenbush from Cala, Mark Bailey from Hayes Valley Bakeworks, Christopher Hall, Jennifer Siswandi from Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition, Catherine Trujillo from Rubicon Bakery, Gordon Rowe, Theresa Salcedo from 18 Reasons. ECS Highlighted in Zero Waste Short The San Francisco Environmental Department shot a short video to highlight their Zero Waste Program at the Global Climate Summit in September. ECS is an indirect recipient of their efforts through the SF Produce Market, check out their video featuring ECS s own, Chef Al Leddy. The Zero Waste Program awards grant funding to non-profit organizations whose work helps San Francisco move toward zero waste. Program

4 Staff Amazing Bishop Swing Support Services Staff Tucked away on 10 th Street in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco is the Bishop Swing Community House, ECS s 134 unit supportive Housing site built in Bishop Swing Community House is home to some of the highest acuity, most vulnerable residents in our 13-site supportive housing program. Meeting the overwhelming need for support services at Bishop Swing is a rock-star staff currently made up of: Carlos Bonilla, Jonathan De Souza, Fruida Kilian, Dennis Roozen, and Susie Stone. Working with people and helping them to make a difference in their lives is what keeps Susie Stone engaged in the life-changing work with Bishop Swing residents. Jonathan De Souza chose case management, because we get to have direct influence on someone else's life, which can be extremely rewarding. We get to utilize our talents and skills every day to assist some of our nation s social challenges in new and exciting ways. Ultimately making a difference in a person s life. In August, we were delighted to host the Honorable Mayor London Breed's press conference at Bishop Swing Community House where she signed the city budget and highlighted two of our residents. The event was a testament to both Bishop Swing Community House and its staff who, as leaders in the field of supportive housing, are constantly working to end homelessness. Bishop Swing Support Services Staff: Dennis Roozen, Susie Stone, Carlos Bonilla, Fruida Killian and Jonathan De Souza

5 Code For America: Beautification Volunteers from Code for America, an organization that promotes access to and delivery of government services to the public, recently volunteered at ECS's Hillsdale supportive housing site. The task: beautification. Code For America volunteers provided a fresh coat of paint and an indoor garden to beautify the Hillsdale s community room. In a supportive housing building, this common area is crucial to bringing residents together, helping them to avoid isolation and a place where residents enjoy spending time with their neighbors. Volunteer Volunteer Today Before and after photos of Code For America volunteer efforts

6 Grant Dolby Laboratories, Federal Home Loan Bank and Silicon Valley Bank ECS applauds Dolby Laboratories for their generous $15,000 grant in support of ECS s adult education and workforce development programs. The grant from Dolby will enable our Adult Education Center, CHEFS, and Hospitality for All instructors to provide innovative programming and employment services for individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty. ECS also thanks the Federal Home Loan Bank and its AHEAD program for the award of $30,000 to our social enterprise program. Similarly we thank our friends at Silicon Valley Bank for putting forward our nomination for this prestigious grant. The $30,000 grant will enable ECS s social enterprise to improve its marketing and thereby build its catering sales and in the long-term contribute to transitional employment for CHEFS students. Episcopal Community Services 165 8th Street ecs-sf.org